Run for Cash is Saturday

The Run for Cash Memorial Race will be held Saturday, June 24 at Old Orchard Beach High School, rain or shine, beginning at 7:45 a.m. Runners and families can register for a 5K race ora3milewalkatrunforcash.org. Awards and cash prizes will be given for the winners of each category.

Captain Christopher Cash is a New England native who discovered a love for running growing up in Old Orchard Beach. A 1985 graduate of Old Orchard Beach High School, Cash was a good athlete who excelled in track and cross country, qualifying for the national Junior Olympics and attending Dirigo State in his junior year. After graduating, Cash joined the Army and after basic training requested admission to jump school at Fort Benning and was accepted. After graduating from jump school and receiving his “wings,” Cash requested admission to US Army Ranger School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was once again accepted. Upon completion of Ranger training and receiving his “Ranger Tab,” Cash was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, initially as a machine gunner but over time assumed more responsibilities as he moved up through the ranks as a noncommissioned officer. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in North Carolina, Cash married and had two sons before he was deployed to Iraq.

At the time of his deployment to Iraq, Cash was commanding officer of Company A, 1 st/120th Inf. Reg./ 30th Heavy Separate Brigade/30th Brigade Combat Team. He was killed along with Sp-4 Daniel A. Dessins Jr. on June 24, 2004 in Baqubah, Iraq in a gun battle against approximately 150 insurgents. Shortly after his death, in August 2004, Cash’s mother and stepfather planned the first “Run for Cash” event, which continues in his memory.

Proceeds from the race will go to Veterans Count Maine and scholarships to area students, which were announced in last week’s Courier.